The History Of The Universe As Told By Wonder Woman

THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE AS TOLD BY WONDER WOMAN is a feature film about female superheroes, warrior princesses and the “ideal” woman in popular culture. The film explores our culture’s love of comic book superheroes and raises questions about the possibilities for women within the genre.

Mythological, fantasy heroes are as old as human civilization itself yet the overwhelming majority of such figures share a narrow range of qualities: authoritative strongmen whose leadership, courage and assertiveness is confirmed through physicality, with a propensity for violence and reckless individualism.

Why are these characteristics considered “heroic”? Why do most superheroes show little or no talent for or interest in communication, family, sharing or empathetic caring? Why aren’t those things considered heroic, and how do our ideas about heroism reflect our culture’s values? Tying the film together is the groundbreaking figure of Wonder Woman.

At first a radical alternative to her contemporary World War II-era superheroes, by the ’60s the Wonder Woman character had become an uninspiring boutique owner. It wasn’t until the ’70s, that Wonder Woman was rescued. Gloria Steinem and the women of Ms. Magazine proudly put her on the cover of the very first Ms. Magazine and convinced DC Comics to restore Wonder Woman’s remarkable powers. Wonder Woman’s fame grew with the mid’-70s television series starring Lynda Carter, and her legacy continues to resonate today, despite the fact that she has yet to make it to the big screen. Her story parallels much of the women’s movement in modern times.

Thank you to our Kickstarter supporters! We raised 150% of our original goal!

THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE AS TOLD BY WONDER WOMAN is funded in part by the California Council for the Humanities Documentary Project Fund, The Sundance Institute, The Aepoch Fund, The Puffin Foundation and the Oakland Cultural Arts Fund and fiscally sponsored by the San Francisco Film Society. It was chosen for the 2010 IFP’s Independent Film Week Spotlight on Docs.

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